59873: She is confused about the answer to a question concerning women talking to men

In Question #6453, regarding gender relations, you said: [[[" Conversation – whether verbally or in writing – between men and women is permissible in and of itself, but it may be a way of falling into the traps of the Shaytaan. Whoever knows that he is somewhat weak, and is afraid that he may fall into the traps of the Shaytaan, has to refrain from such conversations, in order to save himself. Whoever is sure that he will be able to remain steadfast, then we think that it is permissible in his case, but there are certain conditions: "]]] And Alhamdulillah, I understand up until this part, but I became a little confused at the next part: [[[" 1. The conversation should not be allowed to wander too far from the topic being discussed; or it should be for the purposes of calling others to Islam. "]]] So my question regarding this is: In Sharee'ah, what can be considered a permissable topic to discuss in the first place? For example, we know that Islaam is a permissable topic, but what other things can we discuss, if anything?.

Published Date: 2006-04-23

Praise be to Allaah.

This has
been discussed in the answer to question no.
1497 where it says:

Speaking
with a woman to whom one is not related (i.e., not mahram) should only be
for a specific need, such as asking a question, buying or selling, asking
about the head of the household, and so on. Such conversations should be
brief, with nothing doubtful in either what is said or how it is said.

The idea of
limiting speech with women to the five instances mentioned in the question –
which are: to ask how her family is, for medical purposes, for financial
purposes (e.g. in a shop), to find out about her personality for marriage
suitability and to give her dawah (Islamic knowledge) – needs to be
approached with caution, because they could be taken as examples instead of
limits. One must also adhere to the conditions set out by the Sharee’ah even
in instances where such conversations are necessary, such as in da’wah,
giving fatwas, buying or selling, etc. And Allaah knows best.

Women are
not prevented from talking to non-mahram men when it is necessary to do so,
such as dealing directly with them when buying things or conducting any
other financial transaction, because in such cases it is necessary for both
parties to speak. A woman may also ask a scholar about some legal Islamic
matter, or a man may ask a woman such questions, as is proven in various
texts of the Qur’aan and Sunnah. Within the guidelines described above,
there is nothing wrong with a woman speaking to a non-mahram man. It is also
permissible for men to greet women with salaam and vice versa, according to
the most correct opinion, but this greeting must be free of anything that
may provoke desire in the person in whose heart is a disease, so as to be
safe from fitnah and pay attention to the regulations outlined above.

If there is
fear of fitnah being provoked by this greeting, then the woman should
refrain from either initiating or returning the greeting, because warding
off fitnah by neglecting the greeting is warding off mischief, and warding
off mischief takes precedence over doing something useful. (See al-Mufassal
fi Ahkaam al-Mar’ah by ‘Abd al-Kareem Zaydaan, vol. 3/276). And Allaah knows
best.

Thus it is
known that we do not mean general talk for no need, or a great deal of
private talk. Rather it should be just as much as is needed in order to
reply.

Going into
detail in permissible talk or in shar’i matters when there is no need for
that leads to removal of barriers between the two parties, which may lead to
negative consequences.